Weekly weather update for professional turf managers from Frank Rossi:
Temp & GDD
A break in the warm weather brought a cooler than normal week. Cooler to the north and inland at 7 below normal. The I-95 corridor about 4 below normal. GDDs continue to lag behind last year’s accumulation and slightly ahead of normal. Soils are low to mid 70’s along the coast, mid-60’s up the river valleys and upper 50’s and 60’s north. Soils maybe a better indicator of seasonal progress than GDD this year.
Moisture
A very dry week with <0.25” to the west, about 0.5” east of I-81 and some pockets of 2”+. The weekly deficits are starting to add up to decreased soil moisture and intensely high ET values, with record numbers being recorded in some areas. The weekly ET range was from 0.75 to 1.5″.
Forecast
Following a warm and still mostly dry weekend, expect a warm-up into Tues/Wed. then a pattern shift to cool temps and some patchy showers. After an above normal start with temps well into 80’s temps will settle into highs in the low 80’s lows in the low to mid 60’s. Long term models agreeing on cool-wet pattern for 8-14d.
For more turf-related weather info and decision-making tools, visit the ForeCast website.
